Sure, you understand that you’ll save the costs of distribution and printing, and it’s more than likely you realize how many hundreds of hours you’ll be saving in data entry. It’s even possible you acknowledge the fact that online self-service simplifies the enrollment process with accurate, system-enforced business rules.

But those are the obvious qualities; the ones you can see. What about the invisible costs your company incurs today? Are you even aware of how much money is unnecessarily flowing out of your company at this very moment?

These invisible costs aren’t a surface phenomenon. They comprise an expensive and transparent undercurrent that stems from a company’s inaccessibility to flexible and timely data, the type of data offered with a connected online enrollment system.

Still not convinced? Need an example? When was the last time you presented your prescription card at the pharmacy? Or what about taking a look at how your terminations are handled? What’s the lag-time between terminating an employee using a paper system and actually cutting off his health benefits plan? A couple days? Maybe a week or two at best? That’s time where your company might be paying for claims made to that plan; claims allowed because of the discrepancy between what’s active in the carrier’s system and what’s active in yours.

The small costs of these types of claims is what usually allows them to go unnoticed, but what if a terminated employee incurs a large claim, one representing a significant amount of money? In the majority of self-insured arrangements there is stop-loss coverage to protect the employer from large claims. If the claim is for a person no longer eligible there is now protection, therefore payment made to the care provider is not the carrier’s responsibility. It falls upon the employer to pay up on an unfair claim. A connected online enrollment system facilitates the communication of timely terminations between all parties so you aren’t left out in the cold, paying for what you don’t owe.

Of course, you’re not simply saving the hard dollars by going online; you’re saving time. Reorient HR with the responsibilities they were hired for, like defining company culture, contributing to positive employee interactions, and recruiting strong candidates for open positions. A quality system also fosters responsibility and thought leadership within HR by allowing instant access to their company’s entire directory of employees, including status, deductions, and the details surrounding each election. HR transforms into a true human resources entity and not simply a mob of expensive data entry personnel.

The savings to your company can be significant. FSA administration, COBRA liability charges, and overpayment of election premiums (like with terminations) all conspire with other factors to inflict a cost of about $180 per employee per year; assuming a very average 2.5% rate of error. Also, bear in mind this doesn’t take into account the intangibles that vary widely between companies; costs like vendor fees, compliance risks, adding new programs, and billing reconciliation can all serve to boost this number much higher. But given a base average of $180 annual cost per employee, it isn’t unreasonable to consider a connected online system potentially bringing that down to $40; a savings of $125 per employee, and that’s after FSA and COBRA administration costs are calculated. How big was your company again?

The simple truth is this: Adhering to antiquated benefit administration processes is costing your company tens of thousands of dollars a year, if not much more. The cost of investing in an online system is significantly less. Stop losing money.

However, in the end, it’s more than just about not losing money. It’s about savings; saving profits, saving time, saving people. How can you afford it? How can you not afford it?